


But his name is Barry

by anakatieskywalker



Series: A Stranger World [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DC Cinematic Universe, DCU, Justice League (2017)
Genre: Based on a scene from Justice League, Gen, Jason Todd (mentioned) - Freeform, Jason Todd is Dead, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-07 20:02:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12848499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anakatieskywalker/pseuds/anakatieskywalker
Summary: "Save one" is a phrase that rings across the ages, and Barry's dark hair and bright eyes take Bruce back





	But his name is Barry

Batman is strong, stoic, and a nightmare. He knows just how to make people fear him, how to trap them, how to _stop_ them. He is an enigma. He’s never in control, not completely, but he is fierce, and he will fight harder than any person before him to win, to reduce the bad that exists in Gotham. The bad which fuels his anger, his nightmares.

 

Batman is strong, an unwanted savior; Batman is silent.

 

Bruce Wayne always knows what to say, is able to charm every person he meets, and makes all the women swoon. Bruce Wayne is what the people want him to be, a playboy, an elite without rules and morals.

 

Bruce Wayne is charming, and for all that has happened to him, there is very little baggage.

 

His name is Bruce, just Bruce. He’s supportive, and he knows exactly what to say to make you no longer afraid. He spends his nights combing through the city, stopping criminals, and pushing himself just a little bit farther, just a little bit harder. He helps in ways that no one expects either of his namesakes to, and he receives no thanks.

 

Bruce carries the weight of the world on his tired shoulders, and he is unwilling to give it to anyone else, because he doesn’t want them to get hurt, he doesn’t want to be _responsible_ for them.

 

Bruce Wayne is not there that night under the bay, and it isn’t just the feared Bat of Gotham. It is Bruce, there to protect, and give his all, and it is Bruce that Barry Allen, the fastest man alive voices his fears to.

 

It is not Barry that Bruce sees in that moment. Because Bruce has heard these fears before, can hear the underlying _I’m not good enough_ , and it’s not just Barry’s eyes that he’s looking into when he says “Save one.” There’s two other sets of angular features, two different boys there, the boys that haunt Bruce’s memories.

 

Bruce sees his sons in Barry at that moment, he sees them, and he speaks to them, as if they are back in time, as if all the horrible things that Bruce has done can be undone. As if that desecrated suit is not hanging in the Batcave, and there isn’t a headstone back in Gotham that reads the name Jason Todd. As if there isn’t a set of phone numbers in his contacts that he never calls anymore, because he knows that one can never be answered, and the other never wants to speak to him again.

 

Bruce leads another dark haired boy into helping him save the world, but this time the boy is not there to help him, but an entity unto himself. He is fast, ten times faster than any other person alive, and he doesn’t understand people, or brunch. But like the others, he is a black hole for food, and he is young.

But he is alive, and Bruce will make sure he stays that way, even if it means sacrificing both the Bat and Bruce Wayne.

 

There’s another boy, with dark hair and bright eyes, and he is more than willing. But his name is Barry.


End file.
